The situation in Iceland has become so worst that the spine of its economy, the fishing industry, has become almost idle. The fishing trawlers are tied up four-deep at the pier, their crews unloading from – or stocking for – long, nearly sunless days spent plying the banks of the frigid North Atlantic. Fishing is so important for the Icelanders that they have fought three bloodless “Cod Wars” against Britain in the 1950s and ’70s to assert exclusive control over its traditional grounds.
Fishermen are now mulling to join the European Union, surrendering management of its oceans to a distant bureaucracy with a poor conservation record. Sigurdur Sverrisson of the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners, informed that the Icelandic fishing industry has been booming for years, and we’re not subsidized like the EU. He added that if joined there is no way they could keep all of the fisheries policies of Iceland intact.
The governments of Iceland have long resisted EU membership in an effort to protect this vital industry, which accounts for the majority of the country’s export income. As the situation changed with the collapsed of the government the opposition is now generally support joining the EU, are expected to lead the interim government. Olafur Isleifsson, of the Reykjavik University School of Business, said that it is high time that Icelanders should rebuild their status in the international financial world and return to the world of business as a credible entity.
